Officials: Inmate fatally shot after charging at guard

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A Louisiana State Penitentiary inmate was fatally shot Friday when he charged at a corrections officer, who first fired a warning shot, officials said.

Brandon Lizotte, 35, was among prisoners being escorted to a work area about 6:30 a.m. when he charged at the officer, a state Department of Corrections news release said. Lizotte refused to stop despite the officer's verbal commands and a warning shot, the release said. The officer shot Lizotte, who was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

The department says it is classifying the incident as an attempted escape.

The shooting is under investigation by state police, with assistance from the West Feliciana Parish Sheriff's Department and the penitentiary's investigative unit.

Advertisement

Department spokesman Ken Pastorick said the name of the officer who shot Lizotte was being withheld during the investigation.

Lizotte was convicted of second-degree murder in Tangipahoa Parish in 2006 and was serving a life sentence

Accounts of Lizotte's arrest and trial by Louisiana media say he was convicted in the stabbing death of Jignesh Patel. He also wounded Patel's girlfriend. According to trial testimony and court records, he had broken into the couple's home, angry because they had advised Lizotte's girlfriend to end their relationship.